Garmisch - And Now We Stand Against The Wall

We are staying in Malmö for today's post.  We have liked Garmisch since we first heard them BlocSonic's netBloc Volume 5 (The threat at Goliath's feet...). 

Black Paint was a wonderful introduction to the band and it was nice to revisit BlocSonic's marvelous back catalog to listen to more recent offerings.

And Now We Stand Against the Wall is a magical anthem that at times sounds like early Pink Floyd, but always stands out as uniquely Garmisch.  The tune appears on a BlocSonic release called Fishes.

There is a more recent remix of this tune posted to their Soundcloud page.

Their Facebook page has this helpful note:

They’ve from the start been putting together a mixture of influences and ideas, still trying to find their intended style; without any intensions about ever really getting there.

We may have to visit Malmö.

Garmisch - And Now We Stand Against The Wall 

Emerald Park - The Rules of Engagement

We have never shied away from the macabre at BSWC and we won't start now.

Emerald Park is a band from Malmö, Sweden. They released Black Box CC in July 2014 on Swedish netlabel, 23 Seconds. 

Emerald Park features lovely melodies with tight, witty lyrics. The first lines from today's post will surely grab you and lure you into the rest of the story.

23 Seconds has been around since 2006. It is always nice to see longevity in a netlabel. Johan Lundin founded 23 Seconds in the Swedish harbor city of Gothenburg. They have an extensive CC catalog that is well worth exploring.

Tack så mycket.

Emerald Park - The Rules of Engagement

Dot - IMF

Dot is Natasha Musevic. She is a Slovenian born music producer, singer, DJ and a multimedia artist who moved to London at the age of 19.

Listening to this track you can hope that the revolution will be in the commons. "I obey the Government everyday, the question is will the Government obey me."

IMF appeared on a 10th Birthday Mixtape assembled by CC-Europe. That was in 2012.  The track appeared on a ReadWriteMusic release in 2010.

Political music can be real and beautiful.

Dot - IMF

dustmotes - Glass Harp

Putting some new British trip-hop in the feed this morning.  A release called What We Left Behind by dustmotes dropped on the Dusted Wax Kingdom netlabel this week.  It is a wonderful collection of melodic and innovative trip-hop.

The moving force behind dustmotes is London-based Paul Croker.  One of the calling cards of the dustmotes releases is the blending of the "crunch" of the turntable and smooth digital samples.  

A snip from a description for a previous release explores this aspect:

His love affair with the vinyl format started at the age of 4, when he was given his first 7" single, and would grow throughout the next few decades throughout the Hip Hop, Trip Hop and Big Beat movements.  During the early years, he ruined a few parentally-owned record players teaching himself to scratch and mix records.

Smooth and crunchy, have a listen.

dustmotes - Glass Harp

Todeskurve - Drunk Pedestrians - Mean ( Feat Holly Heffelbower Relic) ( Tony Akano Loving Spouse Remix)

We have been spending some time exploring the Creative Commons community on Soundcloud. One of the big changes since the beginning of Black Sweater, White Cat has been the growth of Soundcloud from it's early, somewhat awkward user interface to the varied and diverse music site it is today.  

One thing that marks it is the lack of transparency in licensing. There are CC tags and CC groups and that is one way to find music in the commons.

Indeed, that is the way we found today's post.  It was posted to a CC group by Todeskurve. He is from Germany and co-moderates a number of CC groups at Soundcloud.

Homework from this post is to check out Drunk Pedestrians.  We are intrigued. Here is a little more from their website:

I remember waking up, naked and freezing, laying on this sort of tan-beige carpet in a hallway that Ishityounot reminded me of something out of a sci-fi TV show with ships vaguely resembling genitalia. It’s funny because that’s exactly where I was: a spaceship. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was fortunate to show up on a ship populated by my own kind. Showing up naked on some exo’s ship could’ve ended up kind of nasty. Still, I didn’t know that at the time, and I was more confused than even during the worst drinking blackout I’d experienced. No one would tell me what had happened and I was covered in some sort of weird goo.

There's more to the story.

Todeskurve - Drunk Pedestrians - Mean ( Feat Holly Heffelbower Relic) ( Tony Akano Loving Spouse Remix)

Gurdonark - Maisie's Dream

"Music connects us through shared stories and through melodies without a narrative."

This sentence is how a description of the subject of today's post begins over at ccMixter.org.  The track was produced by long-time BSWC friend, Gurdonark. He has been a mixter at the Creative Commons remix site since November of 2005.

We've included his work on the blog and on the BSWC radio program. You can find this work here, here, here, here, and here.

This track is vintage Gurdonark.  It was posted to the site this past November. In a review of this piece at ccMixter, mixter SacJo22 uses a term, (coined by Gurdonark himself), new to us, but fitting for the style, weirdbient.

We'll let Gurdonark explain:

Mary Emma Jones, a 19th Century Stage actress, performed as Miss Clive. Histories remember her as the companion of English artist Frederick Sandys, a Pre-Raphaelite painter. Mr. Sandys gave her the nickname Proud Maisie, as in the (now public domain) poem of that title by Sir Walter Scott...I tried to take the music to an other, dream-like place, where everything is too simple and not simple at all.

Music connects us through shared stories and through melodies without a narrative.

Gurdonark - Maisie's Dream

Elènne - Between Us (Feat. Mothica)

The future is now.  Elènne  has been making music since 2010. The 23 year-old artist and producer from Stuttgart has a huge presence on Soundcloud.  

For this track he teamed up with the ethereal singer Mothica.  The match was made in heaven. We are excited to share the results.

The track is described on the Nation United Music website:

The track is filled with different synth progressions and drops while allowing Mothica to deliver intoxicating lyrics/vocal work between a lover and a caller.

Get in on the ground floor.

Elènne - Between Us (Feat. Mothica)

Mr. Juan - Baby You're Really In Love

Today's post comes from France-based musician Juan Naveira aka Mr Juan who is also known for his side projects, Juanitos, Miss Emma and Limbo Deluxe. We had the pleasure of discovery when we posted a tune by Juanitos at the end of December. It was awesome to find his solo projects in February.

Our selection is from a 2013 release called London Jerks. Ahhh. French/British amity abides.

Here is a note from Mr. Juan's website:

If you dare to call it as « muzak » then you should admit it is a sort of arty muzak whose inspirational sources do hark back to whimsical space age pop and elfish exotica/tiki pop in addition to the aforementioned sections.

Elfish Exotica is awesome.

Mr. Juan - Baby You're Really In Love

Jennifer Paulos - I Say No More

Reggae and Dub music doesn't recognize borders.

Today's post comes from a 2-year old release on the netlabel, Dubophonic which is based in Cyprus.  Cyprus is an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. 

Dubophonic works to maintain a very broad definition of the genre of Reggae and Dub:

We retain focus on the art of dub music in its most diverse forms, whether it is electronic or acoustic/organic, roots or steppers, classic or contemporary. We are especially interested to promote crossover projects, fusing dub music with other genres of music, trying to define the outest boundaries of dub. 

Jennifer Paulos has Spanish, Swiss and Portuguese roots and works in Spain. Her music career has been building for a number of years and this release really showcases her talent and potential. this is a great track.  

Here is a bit from the release's liner notes:

Born in Ponferrada, Spain, the Hispano-Swiss-Portuguese artist has started releasing her first works back in 2010 with Hide Side on “Corrupzion in Zion” (2010) and since then she is moving only forwards. The collaborations with the local Spanish artist Dub Presidents, who produced her first album “The trial of the Self” (2010), as well as with Mystic Selectah (2012) from Madrid, were the starting point in her musical path. It was only a matter of time she would accomplish her international breakthrough through her collaborations with Izi Dub (FR) and Hi Fi Champion (CAN) in 2013.

The release is called Revolution and anyone who feels in their soul should check it out.


Jennifer Paulos - I Say No More

Jeckich & Jöckich - Bütz mich!

Here is a nice discovery on a really cold Friday morning. 

Jeckich and Jöckich have a fantastic release on the iD.EOLOGY netlabel from several years ago. They are from Cologne and probably celebrated the Carnival season with Bütz mich!

Nice work.

Jeckich & Jöckich - Bütz mich!

Manolo Camp - Hoehenkoller

We had occasion to visit Opsound.org and found a familiar name in the "Latest Artists" list. Manolo Camp has appeared on four BSWC program playlists in 2006 and 2007. You can find the playlists and audio files here, here, here and here. We are pretty sure that we originally found his work on Opsound.

All these years later he is still at work and has tracks on his own website, soundcloud and ccMixter. It was a pleasure to the see the name and hear the music. Obviously, we have some catching up to do.

Manolo Camp is Manuel Kempter and he is from Switzerland.  He explains he approach to his art on Facebook:

the key words that describe manuel kempter, aka manolo camp, have always been cooperation and collaboration. manolo works with artists all around the world. this has given him a very open minded view on many different aspects of music and sound. through it all, manolo maintains his individuality, and does not worry about his work being "unpopular". these strong factors make manolo's contributions often disputed but always interesting.

Hoehenkoller carries the tags #soundtrack and #Swiss Alps over at Soundcloud. Enjoy a trip to the Alps.

Manolo Camp - Hoehenkoller

Professor Kliq - Seventeen

It's a great feeling when we can say, "awesome find." This is a track from an 2013 release called Wire and Flashing Lights from Jamendo.com. Actually, we found it on Soundcloud, but tracked the artist across to Jamendo.com and even found some of his stuff on archive.org. We love the hunt for #ccmusic.

Professor Kliq is from Chicago. He started making music the old fashioned way in 1996 with a Casio keyboard and a tape recorder. There is a bunch of really fine material posted at both Jamendo and Soundcloud. Some of it is absolutely jumping and some of it more cerebral and dreamy. This guy has a lot of talent.

Here is a little about the artist from Jamendo:

Raised in the west suburbs of Chicago, Professor Kliq (Mike Else) underwent a lengthy and profound evolution both musically and mentally. With a variety of names, (Sharp Harpsichord, Quaziteque, Kid Kranium, Professor K), he explored any kind of electronic music he developed an affinity for. With influences ranging from different trip-hop DJ's like Krush, Shadow and Cam to more experimental and noise-based artists like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, he combines these modern elements with those he learned from music theory and his upbringing on jazz as well as 80's pop and electronic music.

Really, click and find some really great music.

Professor Kliq - Seventeen

Fausto Mujica (LFA) - Wanderer

A big shout out to our friends at Starfrosch.ch for this post.  Love. It.

Fausto Mujica is a DJ, musician and an awesome producer. He is from Mexico City. 

Wanderer is the title track for a collection of tunes he produced to mark his sister's wedding this past summer.

He has a huge jackpot of material posted at his Soundcloud site. Most of it is in the Commons.

As is often the case, we don't have much information beyond what you have read above. 

Take a listen to the excellent body of work LFA has posted in the last few years.

Fausto Mujica (LFA) - Wanderer

YEIZON - Up Up Up Up Up (YEIZON Remix)

We can feel the CC love in this one. YEIZON is a South Korean music project that is harnessing the power of Creative Commons licensing to get the music out.  

This tune, posted at ccMixter.org is a remix of a tune by State Shirt who is an active mixter at the site.

The musicians involved in the project come out of the K-Pop scene in Seoul and have coalesced to created this cooperative approach to developing their sound.

Here is the story of YEIZON from their Facebook page:

YEIZON is a music project and a movement that consists of 7 musicians who are rappers, producers, songwriters, vocalists, and percussionists. They’re actively doing their own music activities in the K-Pop, but they got together to quench the thirst for music that cannot be solved in the existing rules of the music industry. Actually, with various kinds of pressures to produce the music that makes more money, it’s difficult for the musicians to follow their belief in music. YEIZON is trying to solve these problems by decreasing the dependency on mass media and existing music distribution channels, and distributing their music via social media under Creative Commons License.

This remix was created and performed for a special live performance of the tune for the Seoul Digital Forum 2012. YEIZON did a speech session and a live performance with Creative Commons Korea.

If you are looking for more music, YEIZON also have a tune on the recent CC Affiliates Mixtape.

Let's share the music and pass it on.

YEIZON - Up Up Up Up Up (YEIZON Remix)

Grace Valhalla - 99%

Grace Valhalla is a young electronic music composer who we have been following since 2006.  She lives and works in Nancy, France.

Grace tells us that she has a new release coming soon on Jamendo.com.  She sent a link to a song from that release called New Orleans.  We'll let you know when new release arrives.

In the meantime, here's a tune from 2012.  99% is the companion tune for another called 1%.  They both appear on her Valhalla Rising release at Jamendo.  She tells us this about her work:

True to myself I tried to produce pieces that convey a certain emotion and that I want to hear ; now I sincerely hope, and not without anxiety, you enjoy it !

We do.

Grace Valhalla - 99%

Gio Micheletti - Dolce Vita

Today we head north to Peru. This is day 5 of our CC musical tour of South America.

Gio Micheletti is based in Peru's capitol, Lima. We found his music at Jamendo.com.

Dolce Vita features a nice little beat and some fine accordion licks. This song has been sticking with us all week.

Here is his artist statement from Jamendo [Google translates from the Italian]:

Musically I was born in the 80's working in a private radio .In the 90's beginning to compose music with the first programs available (fast tracker )Following use good software that allow you to give vent to my musical creativity

Enjoy.

Gio Micheletti - Dolce Vita

Santiago Radar -El Ojo de Vidrio

Another day on our Creative Commons musical tour of South America.  Today we are listening to Santiago Radar from, yep, Santiago, Chile.

Love the tune, but don't have a lot of information on this duo made up of Rodrigo Arancibia and Marcelo Pérez Santiago.  They have material posted on Jamendo dating from 2009 to 2012.

This tune is from their El Eclipse E.P. released in 2009.  They call it pop.  We call it good.

Santiago Radar -El Ojo de Vidrio

La Chicha y su Manga - Carnaval De Arequipa

We continue our virtual tour of South America via Jamendo.com. Today we are in Santiago, Chile visiting with a big band, La Chicha y su Manga. The sound is called Chicha which is a tropical Andean genre which is new to us, but we are explorers.

This tune is from a 2014 release called Con Amor y Cariño.

The group is an active part of the Bolivian/Peruvian community in Chile. Their Facebook page describes them [translation via Google]:

Chilean musical group dedicated to tropical Andean genre known as " Chicha ", " CHICHA AND MANGA " is dedicated since 2008 as the first musical group in Santiago, Chile to venture into this genre , being also involved ever since with Peruvian and Bolivian community resident in Chile , as well as in ritual contexts Andean and expressions related to gender cHICHA , so looking for the depth and significance in the musical work oriented to integration.

La Chicha y su Manga - Carnaval De Arequipa

Santiago Louvet - House Ghetto

Another visit to Jamendo and another post.  Today we travel south to Argentina and an artist named Santiago Louvet.

This is going to have to be a short post. Here is the only description I could find on jamendo.com:

Ambiances chaude et sexy, fusions des différents styles de musiques latines. Découvrez cet artiste unique et radiophonique.

I can tell you that he has been posting there for almost a decade and that this tune is from a 2013 release called Electrotango Maktub.

Santiago Louvet - House Ghetto

Fernando TRZ - Obliquities (TRZ / Lavoura)

Here is a smooth Samba/nujazz remix from Sao Paolo via Jamendo.com.

This was released in 2009.  The release is called TRZ Remixes Volume 2.  The tune is by Brazilian band, Lavoura whose recent tune, Camaragibe was featured in these pages last month.  Really nice, this.

Don't have a lot on Fernando TRZ.  He is a multi-instrumentalist and sound designer associated with UNESP, Sao Paulo State University in Bauru.  He plays with a number bands including Lavoura and has some very cool stuff posted on Jamendo.com.

Fernando TRZ - Obliquities (TRZ / Lavoura)

Progression Labs feat. Anji Bee - Crossing the Pond (Progression Labs Remix)

Two days and two Anji Bee posts.  As mentioned yesterday, Anji Bee and the CC Asia Band had posted samples to ccMixter.org back in 2012.  Off we went to see what transpired.

Here is a drums and bass wonder posted to the Creative Commons remix site by Progression Labs.

Mixter Kara Square describes it like this:

This intoxicating DnB remix of Anji Bee by Progression Labs has all the right dynamics, perfectly placed pauses, and smooth orchestral additions. Chill and refreshing, it keeps inspiring me to hit the play button repeatedly.

Great way to start the day.

Progression Labs feat. Anji Bee - Crossing the Pond (Progression Labs Remix)

Takeru Ishikawa & Anji Bee - CC Asia Band - Favor Tweet

Man, I am psyched to post a tune that has Anji Bee's name associated with it! I've been a fan of her podcast since it started in 2006.  In fact, the Chillcast has been the soundtrack of many a train ride into and out of NYC.  So much so that there are sections of the ride that are directly associated in my brain with Anji Bee.

Today we revisit the CC Affiliate Mixtape that was released a handful of weeks ago and I'm glad that I did revisit it.  Somehow I missed the track offered from the CC Asia Band representing
Taiwan that has been around in concept since 2006.  Anji Bee is a more recent addition.  Here is a bit from Anji Bee's website:

The CC Asia Band is a musical collaboration spanning across multiple borders, languages, and music genres; it brings together many different artists from the Asia Pacific region for the creation of new sounds to be freely shared worldwide via the Creative Commons. This bold project was first conceived in 2006, begun in 2007, and then took flight in 2008 with the “CC Asia Mega Mix” concert in Taipei. Vocalist Anji Bee was one of the last artists to join the group, via an invite from musician/producer, MoShang, who produced the final mixes for the band’s debut album, CABACA.

They have provided uploads to ccMixter.org, so next stop for me is to check in there to listen to the results.

Takeru Ishikawa, Anji Bee with the CC Asia Band - Favor Tweet

Pureape - Aerobic

Spending some time looking back and I'm wondering how this tune didn't make it into a BSWC playlist or as a post. 

From the netlabel, Alpinechic, the band Pureape produced a bunch of tunes that were really appealing. For the life of me I can't remember hearing this tune and it is fantastic. 

From a description on Last.fm posted by Grebla:

Due to numerous live appearances in some of the best swiss music clubs and their passionate love for motorik beats, synthetic songwriting, distorted guitars and pop harmonies, pureape developed a distinctively and unique sound between minimal electronica and sophisticated electro-rock in pop format. 

 Enjoy this taste. 

 Pureape - Aerobic

half past sun - Here I go

Up until 2012 or so there was a German CC Internet Radio show called the Free Music Charts.  A lot of their efforts are documented on archives.org.  Their posts from that period are worth checking out.  I did. 

This comes from the description of the show:

Free Music Charts is an internet radio show, where only open (as in CC licensed) music is allowed to take part. The rules are quite simple:

* listeners can chose up to five songs to vote for
* the 15 best voted songs from the last month take part next month, too
* there are at least five newcomers
* a song is allowed to take part for a maximum of six months, after that time it is replaced by a newcomer

Here I go was featured on Free Music Charts and the hosting website, DarkRadio.com in February 2011.  Note: pretty sure the domain has changed hands (or focus) in the years since...maybe, maybe not.

This tune has a definite British 1980s feel about it.  No denying...half past sun is from Ghent.  Great sound for the end of our week.

Here is what their Facebook page has to say:

half past sun brings melancholic indie songs with a delicate electronic touch, when the hard and flat colours of the day shimmer and return to their soft glow, soon all to be monochromatic.  

Take a listen.  See if you agree.

half past sun - Here I go

Hans Atom - Persephone

Photo by Eugenia Loli

Early February always harkens thoughts to the tale of Persephone...so alone.  A much better story than one about a groundhog and his shadow...

Hans Atom posted this one to ccMixter.org last week.  The vocals are posted to the site by mixter Snowflake.  Really beautiful.

Hans has this to say:

A Wavepop-Remix of snowflake´s famous, enchanting, beautiful yet dangerous siren pella, that lured many ccmixters to destruction.

Take a listen and enjoy thoughts of more winter.

Hans Atom - Persephone

Antony Raijekov - Ambient-M

Another Jamendo selection for this evening, this one by artist Antony Raijekov who Biotic and I have played before on Black Sweater White Cat (search for raijekov on the blog).  Antony hails from Bulgaria, but is currently living in Vienna, Austria,

I love the way this particular track is layered.  Ambient-M is from an album titled Jazz U, a collection of Antony's work from 2003-2006.  The mix is great, download the whole album, and then pop over to Antony's site excellent site for a participatory musical composition with Katharina Köller, and much much more. Make sure to scroll down to Virtual Insanity and Hypercube.

Antony Raijekov - Ambient-M

Yris ft. Ristrek - Charade

While Biotic is away, I'll be posting a selection or two. Enjoy this dark ambient piece delivered to us fresh through Jamendo by the artist Yris.  This is a single, but maybe it will be part of an upcoming album release "The Riverside" planned for release April 6, 2015.

One commenter on Jamendo said:

C'est comme si quelqu'un sachant avoir produit un arrangement irrésistible, baissait le son afin que les auditeurs tendent l'oreille. Et c'est déjà trop tard pour eux, ils ont entendu doublement sous cet effort tendu qu'ils tombaient sous le charme. Personne ne s'en inquiète, je suis moi-même tombé. Bravo.

Yeah... crank up the volume, this track makes you pay attention, and all the more easily you may fall in love.

Yris ft. Restrek - Charade